Sunday, November 16, 2008

Time and again, I'll get nostalgic (or, in my case, nostragic) about my childhood, as a wittle bitty munchkin who loved reading super-long series of books, who used to lock herself in her room for days on end during her summer vacations and pour over books, and who used to practically live at the library. Yesterday was one of those days, and by pure chance, I was talking to my friend Taren during my passage down Memory Lane. We were web browsing together (you know, sending funny links back and forth) and...

She reminded me of my utter obsession/fascination/infatuation with the Baby-Sitters Club books! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I WAS OBSESSED. I think I even have 70 of the books I managed to buy at my local used bookstore in storage. Being 11 and all, I marveled at the freedom these girls had and how much adults respected them. Seriously, I longed to live in Stoneybrook, catch a glimpse of Claudia in her so-called fabulous attire, get a feel of Stacey's sophistication (though she looks fugly on her portrait on the side of the covers), and see Mary-Anne and Logan be in their Serious Adult Relationship. (Speaking of which, I think I cried when they broke up on #41, Mary Anne Vs. Logan. Sigh.) I WANTED TO BABYSIT THE PIKE KIDS SO BADLY.

Taren shared a spectacular site for recaps on the books: BSC Central. Am currently making my way through the archives, and wow, so many memories flooding back. Congrats to the author for keeping it snarky and real.

Speaking of snarky, what in the fresh hell is this??

A GRAPHIC NOVEL???? Anyone know if it's any good? The cover certainly makes the series feel like it's for a younger set than the ancient covers did.

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comments:

I liked the BSC too! I read one or two of the graphic novels. They're not really different, just that there are graphics. If anything, I think they were pretty much the same, only easier to read since ... well, they're like comics. :]

Ahh BSC! I totally have (yes still do) the two games and I think the Claudia doll! I remember thinking it was way cooler than my old fashioned American Girl Samantha doll! I saw the "graphic novels" at my comic book store and was like what is going on here! I guess they are trying to make it hip for all the manga loving little girls?

Me and my best friend in elementary school were completely obsessed. I borrowed most of my books from her. We LOVED those books. I'm not sure I like the thought of the graphic novels, but the sad reality today is that some kids won't read a book without pictures. It's too bad.

I read the first graphic novel, and the artist did a great job of updating the stories so they weren't so... 80s and 90s. The art was really good too!

I also used to love the BSC. I must have had over 50 of the books, including super specials, portraits/"autobiographies" of the characters, the books about Karen, the mysteries, and even one of the super mysteries. I always hated how the characters were introduced in each book with the same stock first chapter, though.

Paradox - YES, I hated that, too! But oh well. I can probably recite all of the characters' characteristics as a result :)

Nice to see so many people loved these! Carol, I don't know how much you'd enjoy them now... Shame you didn't read these when you were in elementary school/6th grade. (Yes, I read them all the way up to 6th grade. But I also read Gossip Girl [summer before 7th] and Gingerbread and stuff then, so boo!)

Ahh but I doubt it would be the same pure infatuation you feel when you're 9 or 10 or 11 or whatever and are only discovering it then and you're like OMG I WANNA BE THEM. I'd probably still enjoy it now - though would most likely be very picky - but it's not the same.

Do you have ESP, Steph? I was thinking about the BSC just yesterday and pondering rereading a few for old time's sake (my favorite was #8, BOY CRAZY STACEY). I remember feeling supremely disappointed when I discovered that I could never visit Stoneybrook because it wasn't a real town.

Oh gosh. I had 72 BSC books (including the mysteries and Supers) before I finally grew out of them in like fifth grade. I think I still have them. I wanted to *be* Claudia. (and omg, the Pike kids, I'd totally forgotten!)

The BSCers are supposed to be cool middle school kids--why do they look like second-graders on the cover of the new graphic novel? In second grade, I wanted to read about cool older kids (like those *mature* eigth-graders), not kids my own age!

Growing up, my cousins owned the Babysitters Club VHS series, and we totally watched them everytime we went over there. It was the best! And I have read the first couple graphic novels in the series, and they are just like the original books.

I loved the Babysitters Club... I used to go to K-Mart every month and buy the new book for $2.50. I even named my cat Tigger, after Mary Anne's (sp?) cat. I'm 100% sure that reading those books made me a better babysitter--I was quite sought-after.

If you want to feel old, try thinking about how they're all in their 30s now. Ugh.

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Hey! For some reason, this embedded comment form makes most people click twice before the comment is processed and published. It's not you - it's just that it's a new Blogger feature with kinks and all that. (But I adore it and don't wanna get rid of it!) I removed Captcha to make the process easier. You don't have to rewrite the comments twice; just click on SUBMIT twice and it should work. If not, email me. Thanks! -Steph